Croaks and Nasty Shrums
by Konoha's Kage
Summary: Everyone is getting into the Valentine's Day spirit. And so is an eight-year-old Naruto. .:NarutoInoish:.


KK: Late, yes I know. I only just came up with the idea after school, but was too lazy to start writing it until ten o' clock. By the time I was done, it's February 15, 2008, 12 a.m.

Anyway, it's a simple NarutoIno Valentine's Day one-shot. Hope you like.

Beep: Owning Naruto is about as possible as me going a day without tripping on something. Or nothing, for that matter.

* * *

A crash and a small cry of pain was heard by a few villagers in the marketplace of the village that was Konoha.

"Oh, gosh! Sorry, kid, I wasn't watching where I was going -- Oh, it's_you_. Look at that mess you made! You better clean it up," and the man walked away, shivering in disgust that he had actually touched such a filthy creature.

A small child sniffled a little as he righted the cardboard box to a standing position. He then proceeded to collect the small little baggies that were the contents of the box. They each had a couple of little chocolates inside.

The child, an eight-year-old that went by the name Uzumaki Naruto, was kneeling in the middle of the sidewalk. No one had offered to help him with his little mess, but did glare at him for making an obstacle that people had to walk around. Naruto felt guilty and worked faster. He pulled the little pink and red objects together into a pile and placed them in the box again.

The little objects were for his class. Tomorrow was Valentine's Day and the teacher had told them there was going to be a big party. Naruto had been working odd jobs for a month to get the money for the candy.

After he closed it up again, he stood up, blinked, and continued to walk home.

When he got home (which was a residence with two doors: The actual entrance itself, and the one to the bathroom. Naruto tried to clean the bathroom once. His friend, whom he called the Old Man, had found him unconscious on the floor because of all the cleaning supplies' chemicals.), he dropped the box on the floor, headed for the kitchen, and opened a cabinet. He reached inside and pulled out a first aid kit. He frowned at lightness of it; he'd have to ask the Old Man to refill it again.

Putting the mental note aside he opened it and pulled a roll of bandages that used to be very large. He pulled up his left pant leg and sighed. The blood from the injury on his leg had gotten on his pants. Great. He expertly wrapped the bandages around hisleg, pulled his pant leg down, and put the first aid kit back.

Naruto knew he would heal the next day, anyway. He didn't know why, but all he had to do was sleep and any injuries, small or big, would disappear when he woke up. He liked to think that this was a gift from his mother and father -- you know, as a way of saying sorry for leaving him behind.

Suddenly remembering something, he felt his pocket. There was still a little money left. He walked out the door and turned in the direction of the store a few streets over.

When he got there, he nervously walked up to the door. Before he got there, a man walked out with a large bundle of flowers in his hand. Naruto's eyes widened that flowers could be so red and beautiful. But he didn't dare stare too long lest the man notice and get angry with him. He hastily pushed the glass door and walked in, a little bell chiming above him. At the counter was not an adult, but a girl he knew from his class.

"Ino?"

The girl looked up. "Naruto? What're you doing here?" Ino was the prettiest girl in the class. They never had conversation before, but sometimes when Naruto said hi, she would say hi back. Only, of course, if Sasuke wasn't there, though.

"... do you own this store?"

Ino laughed. "No, silly, my mom does. I'm only looking after it for a couple hours because she has to go shopping. I'm good at it," she said proudly. "That's why she let me cover for her on a busy day like this."

Naruto was puzzled. "Why is it a busy day?" he asked.

"Valentine's Day is tomorrow, you idiot!" Ino sighed when his expression didn't change. "Valentine's Day is when everyone gives everyone they love flowers. Particularly roses," she gestured towards a wall that was covered with the same flowers that Naruto had seen the man leave with earlier.

"Oh," he said simply.

Ino brightened suddenly. "Hey! Is that why you're here? Do you have a Valentine?" she asked eagerly. "Is it Sakura? 'Cause then she could leave Sasuke-kun all to me," she said hopefully.

Naruto wasn't sure what a "Valentine" was, but he said, "I want to get flowers for my parents."

Ino deflated. "Oh. That's funny. Well not really, but most people get flowers for people they love."

Now he was more confused than before. "People don't love their parents?"

"No, I don't mean like that! I mean romantically!"

Another word he didn't know. Romantically?

She continued. "Oh, people still give flowers to their parents. I just like it on Valentine's Day when people are all trying to be romantic. Anyway, which flowers do you want?"

Naruto shrugged. "You choose."

"Okay!" she agreed happily. She liked choosing flowers for people. She had sort of a technique of knowing someone's personality enough to match a flower with them.

She stared at Naruto a little and picked up a rather brightly colored flower. "This might... no. Maybe this one... no. This one's pretty... no." It continued on like this for a while. Ino came to realize that Naruto was the hardest person ever to match a flower with. "Hmm..."

Naruto looked around as well. Then his eyes rested upon a small purple flower. The color was gentle, if color could be described that way. He carefully picked it up. "What's this one?"

"That? Oh, I like that one. It's a crocus."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Croaks? Well, it's pretty, but I don't like the name so much."

Ino giggled. "I agree with you there."

Naruto held it up in front of him, and happened to hold it with Ino within his sight. Comparing the flower to her and her pale blonde hair, he said, "I think this flower looks good with you," and he handed it to her. "Not that you need anything to make you look prettier," he said innocently.

Ino blushed. "You think?" She looked down and played with the flower.

Naruto nodded. "So, what flower do you think I should get?"

Ino frowned. Finally she held up another flower. It was a light orange with wider petals than the crocus. "It's a... I think it's a nasturtium. Maybe."

Naruto blinked. "Nasty-shrum? What's with all these flowers' weird names?"

Ino lightly smacked him in the back of his head. "Flowers themselves have different meanings! And they're names mean something in another language, you know!"

Naruto grumbled. "Why don't they just say it in plain Japanese then..." he said under his breath. Aloud, he said, "So, is that flower okay?"

Ino sighed. "I think it fits you. Your parents, though, I'm not sure..."

Naruto smiled. "That's okay. They're all beautiful. For certain, I know that I want that one. The Croaks."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I like that one. I don't care what it means, but I think my mom and dad will like them, too. And that Nasty-shrum. Don't like the name, but that color's cool."

"Okay. I'll arrange a bouquet centering around these two," Ino nodded.

Ten minutes later, she emerged with a ribboned bouquet in her hands. "Purple and orange don't go together too well," Ino said as she eyed it in slight irritation.

Naruto grinned. "Are you kidding? I think it's perfect!"

"If you say so. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Parents love anything their kids get them. I'm sure they'll like this, too."

His grin shrunk to a wistful smile. "I hope they do."

"Wait, let me get a card. What do you want it to say?"

Naruto tensed as he heard the jingling bell from the door behind him. He could tell by the shadow cast on the wall that it was an adult -- and it was rare that an adult meant good news for him. "That's okay," he said hurriedly, dumping all the money from his pocket onto the counter. "I don't want a card. Thanks, Ino!"

"But --" Ino started, but Naruto had already turned around and headed for the door. He nervously avoided looking at whoever the adult was as he passed by.

When he got home, he went to the kitchen again. This time it was to get something to hold the flowers in.

The Old Man had never told Naruto where his parents' grave was. Once Naruto asked, but the man got such a look on his -- it was of fear, pain, sadness, reluctance, and so many other things that Naruto couldn't identify. The Old Man had said, "I'm sorry, Naruto, but I can't show you now. Maybe when you're older." Naruto never asked again.

But Naruto didn't need a rock with his parent's names carved on them (not that he knew what they're names were). He placed the flowers in the largest glass container he could find and carried it over to the window by his bed. He set the flowers on the windowsill and closed his eyes, trying to imagine what his parents might have looked like. He imagined that they were great people, and that they only had to leave him behind because they had no other choice.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Mom and Dad."

-.-.-.-.-.-

Naruto sat nervously in the back of the classroom watching as all the other kids walked in, some of them carrying piles of Valentines.

He waited anxiously until the teacher announced that they could pass out their Valentines.

Some kids, like Shikamaru (who had fallen asleep as soon as he sat down), didn't bring any at all. Others brought them for a few people. People like Hinata and Naruto brought one for everyone in the class. The girls all swarmed for Uchiha Sasuke's desk first. When they cleared, not one spot of the desk wasn't covered in pink, red, or white. Naruto laughed quietly when he saw Sasuke attempting to work even with the candy giving him no room. Finally, Sasuke threw the cards a withering look, leaned back, and continued the classwork on his lap.

Naruto started to get his own Valentines out, but stopped when he took a closer look at all the other Valentines everyone was passing out. They were all so neat, with ribbon and brightly colored bags with brightly colored chocolate. Compared to his own, he might as well have given them all broccoli and told them it was good for them.

He stared miserably at his Valentines, which now only seemed like clumps of dirt. They didn't even have cards on them. He felt his heart drop. What made him think he wouldn't get teased if he gave everyone pieces of junk like these? He pushed the box farther under his desk, resolving to return the candy tomorrow, whether or not the person would give him his money back or not. Ashamed, he buried his head in his arms and tried to fall asleep like Shikamaru did so expertly. He was vaguely aware of some people – the ones that had brought Valentines to everyone in the class – drop things by his desk. He only got up to sincerely thank Hinata, who gave him the nicest Valentine.

He almost fell asleep, too – when a voice made him jump. Not the volume of it, but the fact that it was directed to him.

"Sorry."

Naruto looked up, to find Ino in front of him with a guilty expression.

"Huh?"

"I lost your Valentine. I brought one for everyone, but I somehow lost yours."

Naruto blinked. He had suspected that many people had 'lost' the Valentines that were his, but this girl, Yamanaka Ino actually seemed genuinely sorry for it. "Oh. That's okay," he said, a little puzzled.

"So, here." She held out a bag of candy. "It's Sasuke-kun's. Everyone else had started to eat out of theirs. Well, except for Shikamaru, but he's drooling all over it. Only Sasuke-kun hasn't touched his candy."

Naruto stared at the candy. If it hadn't confused him before, it definitely confused him now. Ino, the leader of the We-Love-Sasuke Club, was taking _back _her Valentine for him? What happened to the world?

"He won't miss it," Ino assured him.

Naruto still stared stupidly. "I know it's just..."

"Just take it," Ino said, starting to get annoyed. "You aren't supposed to say no when someone gives you candy."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks, Ino. Thanks a lot," Naruto said, a soft smile forming on his lips. Even though the card said 'To: Uchiha Sasuke-kun' on it, it was still the best Valentine he'd ever gotten. Because it also said 'From: Yamanaka Ino'.

He reached out to take it, when they both heard a rustling noise below them. Ino walked around Naruto's desk to look under it. "What was that noise?" she asked.

Naruto panicked. "Nothing, it's just –"

He was interrupted by Ino pushing his feet away. "Hey, you've got a whole bunch of Valentines here for us! What were you going to do, wait until the end of the day or something?" she asked incredulously.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "I guess I fell asleep and forgot about it?"

Ino groaned. "That's so like you. You're such an idiot." Then she turned to the class. "Hey, guys!" she called. "More Valentines for everyone from Naruto! Over here!"

Naruto sighed as she pulled out the box from under his feet. "They aren't even good valentines, Ino," he protested.

"Who cares," Ino said dismissively. "Candy is candy! Help me hand out your valentines!"

As he watched her confidently pull out the little baggies, a smile slowly formed on his face. The kids in the class, except for Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji, all came up to him and took a bag. They even said thank you!

Finally, Ino took a bag of her own. "Thanks, Naruto," she smiled.

Naruto returned the grin with his own. "Happy Valentine's Day, Ino."

* * *

KK: I'm not sure I got this right, but a nasturtium means "Victory" and a crocus means "Happiness." I didn't want to do anything overly romantic, as Ino would know the meanings and as they only had their first real conversation, she wouldn't have had any romantic feelings.

Anyway, Happy Late (By like half an hour!) Valentine's Day. Hope you guys all got chocolate and love and mushy movies and all that crap. Review?


End file.
